Updated news about the Scandal [DO NOT POST COMMENTS] (25 Viewers)

[CORVETTE]

I’ll change calcio, says Rossi

Italian Football Federation chief Guido Rossi has vowed to continue in his fight to clean up the domestic game.

Rossi was appointed as commissioner of the FIGC on May 16 as the Federation was placed into administration following the Calciopoli enforced resignations of President Franco Carraro and his deputy Innocenzo Mazzini.

“The situation is very difficult,” the 75-year-old said in an interview with La Repubblica. “I have the terrible feeling that there is not the will to change things in Italy.

“It seems that the scandal has already been forgotten, this country is afflicted by a serious form of social amnesia.

“However, that makes me even more motivated in my effort to return credibility to Italian football,” added Rossi.

The commissioner also denied Press reports suggesting that CONI may overturn the verdicts handed out by the Federal Court in July, whitewashing the responsibility of the clubs involved in the scandal.

”The FIGC does not want to and indeed cannot change the sanctions agreed by the Federal Court,” noted Rossi. “Anyone who thinks this is an end of season sale is wrong.

“There are too many interests involved in this sport, too many powers, and each single one of these does all it can to protect itself.

“Those who are trying to obtain discounts are going against the will of the people, who instead want the rules to be respected,” added Rossi.

“The scandal has highlighted an endemic disease of this country, the tendency to forget and pretend nothing has happened.”

Rossi knows the road is still a long one and it won’t be an easy journey, but he feels the support of those surrounding him.

“How can I consider leaving the job when I can count on people like Francesco Saverio Borrelli and Cesare Ruperto, my entire staff and the President of CONI Gianni Petrucci?

“The government is also supporting me and people I cross on the street invite me to continue, so that is exactly what I will do.”



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[ReBeL]

Reggina handed 15-point penalty



ROME (AFP) - Reggina, the latest club to be implicated in the Italian match-fixing scandal, survived demotion from Serie A but were penalised 15 points for the new campaign, an Italian Football Federation (FIGC) tribunal decided.

The club's 56-year-old president Lillo Foti, three referees, two assistant referees and another official had been targeted by prosecutors who accused them of trying to predetermine the result of six matches last season.

Italian Football Federation prosecutor Stefano Palazzi had asked the sporting tribunal to hand the club a points penalty for the season ahead, but also wanted them relegated to the Second Division.

However, Reggina, who were also fined 100,000 euros, have survived the fate which befell mighty Juventus who were dumped into the second tier of Italian football for their role in the scandal which rocked the sport in the country.

Foti was suspended from footballing activity for two years and six months, as well as being fined 30,000 euros.

"The fact that the tribunal has kept Reggina in Serie A is recognition of the sacrifices made by the team," Foti told the ANSA news agency.

"I reaffirm my innocence."

As part of the investigation, which centred on intercepted phone calls, Serie B side Arezzo were also facing demotion to the third tier.

They have maintained their Serie B status, but with a nine-point deduction.

They were punished after suspicions were raised over their 1-0 win over Salernitana in the 2004-05 season.

Assistant referee Stefano Titomanlio and Gennaro Mazzei, a former FIGC official in charge of assigning linesmen, were suspended for three years.

Leonardo Meani, a former AC Milan official, was handed a three month ban and his former club fined 10,000 euros.

In the first phase of punishments earlier this summer, AC Milan were docked eight points for the season ahead and 30 points from last season's finish relegating them from second to third place.

They retained their Serie A place while Juventus face a season at least in Serie B, and will start the campaign with a 17-point penalty.

Lazio and Fiorentina both face double-figure point penalties in Serie A.

AFP

 

[Everblue]

Right now there is an appeal with CONI going on.

 

[Mark]

To keep this thread clean I removed some comments. This thread is only for news, no comments.

 

[ReBeL]

Juventus fails to overturn relegation



ROME, Aug 18 (Reuters) - Juventus on Friday failed to persuade Italy's football federation to repeal their relegation to the second division following a match-fixing trial.

A soccer tribunal stripped Juve of their last two Italian titles and demoted them to Serie B where they will start the season with a 17-point deduction.

The Italian Olympic Committee's (CONI) conciliation court brought together Juventus directors and the soccer federation on Friday to seek an agreement regarding the club's appeal for a more lenient sentence, with Juventus demanding a return to Serie A.

But a Juventus statement said the meeting had "not resulted in any conciliation" and that the board would meet on Monday to decide its next move.

Before Friday's meeting, Juventus had said it was ready to turn to a regional court if the appeal to sporting bodies failed.

Juventus chairman Giovanni Cobolli Gigli said the Turin club expected the same punishment as three others involved in the scandal, Lazio, Fiorentina and AC Milan, who kept their places in the top division but with points penalties.

"We will examine all of our options calmly, convinced as we are, in our search for a more fair punishment," he told reporters.

Cobolli Gigli said the next steps included bringing the case to another Olympic Committee department and going outside sports justice to a civil court or even to the European Court of Justice.

The other three clubs and several individuals who were punished by the tribunal are also taking their cases to CONI in the coming weeks.

Juve's demotion has led to a number of their top players leaving the club, among them Italy captain Fabio Cannavaro, who has gone to Real Madrid, while Swedish forward Zlatan Ibrahimovic was sold to Inter Milan.

Coach Fabio Capello left for Real Madrid and has been replaced by former Juve player Didier Deschamps.

Juve's fourth-quarter revenues slumped by almost 23 million euros to 40.3 million euros.

The club said the uncertain outlook linked to the failure to take part in the Champions League -- Europe's premier club tournament -- and the relegation to Serie B would hurt its financial results in the 2006/07 fiscal year.

Reuters

 

[ReBeL]

Juventus fail in match-fix appeal



ROME (AFP) - Disgraced Italian giants Juventus have failed in their bid to convince Italian football federation bosses that their demotion to Serie B, the country's second tier football league, should be overturned.

Juventus, one of several clubs sanctioned for being involved in a match-fixing scandal which rocked the country shortly before Italy's World Cup triumph, met with bosses from the Italian football federation (FIGC) in arbitration with the national Olympic comittee (CONI).

"The result of this meeting was not a positive one, but at least we had the opportunity to explain our position," said Juve president Giovanni Cobolli Gigli.

"We pointed out how our punishment was disproportionately damaging to us financially and in terms of prestige.

"We proposed to be allowed back into Serie A with a points penalty, but now our Board of Directors will meet on August 21 to decide the next step."

"Our options are arbitration, but there is also the TAR adminstrative tribunal and the European Court," said Cobolli Gigli.

"We want the correct penalty for our club."

AFP

 

[ReBeL]

Ubiquitous cheating means sport has no level playing field


Corruption results from the transformed cultural and economic position that these global events have come to occupy

The summer, of course, is the high noon of sport. The World Cup, the European Athletics Championships, Wimbledon, the Tour de France and the British Open are among the highlights.

Over the last 10 years, the prominence that sport occupies in global culture has been transformed. It has become one of the key components of the global entertainment industry: great sporting occasions can be accessed by the press of a button in our living rooms, television sports rights have become hugely valuable, sports stars are global icons and role models, commanding millions in both income and sponsorship deals.

While the popularity and centrality of politics has declined, that of sport has risen in inverse proportion. If once sport was an appendage of politics and economics, the relationship has changed, at times to the point of being reversed. Sport is big business in its own right, and sport is where some great social issues are played out, as the still somewhat mysterious events surrounding the Zidane chest-butt illustrate. Where else are issues of race exposed so openly to public view?

But this summer some dark and ominous clouds have appeared on the horizon that could well come to threaten the seemingly irresistible rise of sport. Its appeal as a great spectacle depends on its credibility, the belief that what we think is true is in fact - more or less - true: that, in the now ubiquitous phrase, borrowed from sport, sporting contests are conducted on a level playing field.

This summer, alas, has provided growing reason to doubt this. Just prior to the World Cup, we learned that the top Italian football teams, most notably Juventus, were involved in a conspiracy to ensure that the referees chosen to officiate their matches were on their payroll and biased in their favour. The tentacles of this malfeasance reached beyond Serie A into European games, and so this cannot be dismissed as a purely Italian matter: the European championships themselves have been debased. As I watched the World Cup, I found myself wondering just how many matches were being officiated by bent referees in the pay of one or other of the teams. Once that thought occurs, and becomes widespread enough, then the place that football occupies in the hearts and minds of millions is inevitably brought into question.

Or take the Tour de France. The fact that cyclists were busy doping themselves with the connivance and encouragement of the teams, with the team doctors handing out the syringes and the pads, is hardly new. But this year, on the eve of the race, two favourites were banned for suspected drug-taking, and the "winner", Floyd Landis, after a "superhuman" performance on stage 17 - subsequently found to have been drug-induced - faces being deprived of his victory and banned. All this after the widespread but unproven suspicions about the recently-retired, seven-times winner Lance Armstrong. This is a race that has lost all credibility. Why would anyone want to watch or sponsor it? It is irredeemably tainted. One can only assume that virtually all - perhaps all indeed - of the riders are taking performance-enhancing drugs.

Or take athletics. One of the world's top sprinters, Justin Gatlin, recently failed a drugs test and faces being banned from the sport. During the cold war, the performance of the East German athletes was routinely put down to drugs: little did we know then that American athletes were heavily engaged in similar activities, with the official US bodies perfectly happy to turn a blind eye. Drug-taking has become so widespread that it is now almost impossible to watch the participants in some disciplines without asking: "who is on drugs?", or even: "are they all on drugs?" It is certainly far more than the numbers actually found guilty, for two reasons: first, the drug witch doctors' science is well in advance of that of the regulatory bodies, and second, the official bodies - not only in athletics - continue to prefer to live in a state of denial.

All these growing expressions of corruption are products of the transformed cultural and economic position that sport now occupies. The rewards have become so great that the temptation to cheat has grown commensurately. Moreover, the regulatory bodies - the FA being a case in point - are far too impotent, and often incompetent, to govern their sport in the way now required: by taking it by the scruff of the neck, confronting the new and powerful adversaries - be they clubs, businesses, players, television companies or sponsors - and introducing rules to meet new challenges, and implementing them with draconian sanctions. Alas, that has not happened. Sport is increasingly played according to the tune, and rules, of those with the biggest bucks, whether their practices be legal or illegal.

No doubt when the Premiership kicks off today, the idea that English football suffers from any of these ailments will be dismissed as mischievous fantasising. But can we really be sure that one or two of our own referees are not on the take from some wealthy club? After all, corrupt referees are not confined to Italy: prior to the World Cup a German referee was exposed for fixing the results of matches. The Premiership, moreover, is host to one of the most venal expressions of the virus under-mining sport. For the Chelsea phenomenon - the desire of a Russian, whose enormous wealth was obtained by dubious means, to then, in effect, buy the game by using his riches to purchase players at whatever the cost, with the FA looking on like rabbits dazzled by headlights - is one of the best illustrations anywhere of what is wrong.

Sport is no longer a matter of a level playing field but is reduced to the wealth of the highest bidders and their growing willingness (and that of their hirelings) to play fast and loose with the rules.

So what does the future hold for the Age of Sport? Will it lose its new place in global culture? Not impossible, but rather unlikely. Will its huge popularity be accompanied by growing public cynicism? Almost certainly. Could cheating undermine the popularity of some sports? Very likely: both cycling and athletics are in big trouble, and others could follow. If the Age of Sport has been all champagne and roses hitherto, then expect our love affair with its newly-acquired prominence to become increasingly tainted by scandals about cheating. Sport is losing its shine and allure.

Martin Jacques
Saturday August 19, 2006
The Guardian

 

[ReBeL]

Matarrese 'closes' Calciopoli


New Lega President Antonio Matarrese has opened a row with the FIGC’s Guido Rossi by urging an end to the Calciopoli punishment.

Federation chief Rossi was disappointed at the discounts given to clubs in the match-fixing scandal, as he explained in an interview with newspaper ‘La Repubblica’ this week.

“If I join a private club, then I have to respect the rules. I can’t just steal the silverware and then complain. Why isn’t anyone more indignant about all of this? Why aren’t the newspapers demanding action?”

However, the statement only infuriated new Lega Calcio chief Matarrese (pictured), who was President of the FIGC for several years in the 1980s and 90s.

“We can change football together, but we have to stop piling bitterness on to those who have already had to put up with so much. Rossi is useful for the sport, but now enough is enough. Nobody has been stealing here. Those who made mistakes have paid the price and it’s time to turn over a new leaf,” stated Matarrese.

Juventus were demoted to Serie B for their part in the scandal, while Fiorentina, Lazio, Reggina and Milan have been ordered to start the new season with a points penalty.

“The Lega Calcio must not be perceived as an association of criminals. As Rossi slowly gets into our world, he will understand the system and gain experience. People here want to work with him and so we must try to avoid misunderstandings that aren’t helping anybody. I am the first to stand by Rossi’s desire to change football.”

Channel 4

 

[ReBeL]

Juventus plan to take sanctions case to courts threatens football season


Juventus, the Italian football club found guilty of match fixing, is expected to abandon the sports justice system and turn to an Italian administrative court in its fight to overturn sanctions imposed by a football federation tribunal last month.

The bold move could lead football officials to suspend the opening of Italy's football season and would challenge the current dispute resolution system imposed by Uefa and Fifa, the organisations that manage European and world football.

The board of Juventus will meet today to discuss the move, which is being recommended by Giovanni Cobolli Gigli, the club's chairman and Jean Claude Blanc, chief executive, people close to the situation told the FT over the weekend. Ifil, the Agnelli family holding company that owns 60 per cent of the club, is also said to support the action.

The proposal to turn to the regular courts follows the failure last Friday of Italy's Olympic committee to mediate between Juventus and Federcalcio, the Italian football league. This was the club's second appeal since July 14, when it was relegated to Serie B and stripped of its last two Italian championship titles.

If, as expected, the board agrees to turn to the regular judicial system, it would be the first move outside the sports justice system by one of the clubs involved in Italy's latest football scandal. Alternatively, Juventus could accept the current punishment or appeal to an Olympic committee arbiter.

The club's appeal to the Lazio region's administrative court would be on the basis that Juventus was punished disproportionately and that it has suffered tens of millions of euros in damages as a result of being relegated to Serie B. The three other clubs found guilty of match- fixing were sanctioned only with a points deduction but not relegation.

Juventus is expected to continue its demand for a return to the premier league and restitution of its championship title for the 2005/06 season.

A decision in favour of Juventus would also probably nullify the sanctions against the other clubs involved in the scandal, creating uncertainty as to which teams make up the A and B leagues. This possibility might force Federcalcio to suspend the football season opening.

It would also challenge Uefa and Fifa rules on dispute resolution, which restrict recourse to the sports justice system. Appeal to a regular court could lead to Juventus being expelled from both organisations.

Financial Times

 

[Cuti]

FIGC face Brescia probe
Monday 21 August, 2006
Magistrates in Brescia are set to open an investigation into the Italian Football Federation in the aftermath of the Calciopoli chaos.

Public Prosecutor Giancarlo Tarquini and his staff will put the FIGC’s conduct under the microscope with regard to the 2004-05 season when Brescia were relegated.

However, it has since been declared that the campaign in question was full of irregularities after Juventus, Milan, Reggina, Lazio and Fiorentina were all punished as part of the match-fixing trial.

The decision to readmit Lazio and Fiorentina to Serie A ended the club’s chances of returning to the top-flight, a decision which didn’t go down too well in the northern city.

“I feel like a person who has reported a theft, but after the stolen property has been found it has been returned to someone else,” said Brescia chief Gino Corioni after the July 25 verdicts.

This latest investigation into the world of Italian football, carried out at the request of the fans, will look to verify whether the FIGC failed to protect Brescia.

The club had also presented a request on August 8 suggesting that 21 teams be included in Serie A – thus allowing Brescia to play in next year’s First Division.

 

[ReBeL]

Again? Juve to re-appeal sentence


TURIN, Italy (AP) -- Juventus will appeal to an administrative court to get a lighter sentence in Italy's match-fixing scandal.

After a board meeting on Monday, Juventus said it was appealing to the court -- the Tar of Lazio -- because of "the unjustified gravity of the sanctions and the lack of equal treatment with respect to the other clubs" involved in the scandal.

The Tar of Lazio is slated to convene on Sept. 6. If the July 25 decisions are suspended or annulled, the start of the Serie A and B seasons on Sept. 9-10 could be delayed.

Associated Press

 

[ReBeL]

Calendar will not be delayed by Juve appeal, insists league chief


ROME (AFP) - Italian football league (Lega-Calcio) president Antonio Matarrese insisted the new season will kick-off on time, regardless of Juventus' appeal in the civil courts against their punishment for match-fixing.

Juventus, who have been demoted to the second division for sporting fraud but are demanding they be reinstated to Serie A, are to take their case up with the Regional Administrative Court (TAR).

Their case is expected to be heard on September 5 or 6, just days before the new season.

"For us, the new season starts on the 9th and 10th of September," Matarrese said Monday.

"We cannot predict what will happen (with Juventus). We have fixed the dates."

The new fixture list will be announced by Lega-Calcio, who oversee the affairs of Serie A and Serie B, on August 30.

"We have fixed the programme," Matarrese added. "We have to respect the others, just as we respect Juventus. There's nothing more we can do."

The TAR has the authority to overule decisions made by sports bodies, but in the past have been reluctant to interfere in sports matters.

Juventus are incensed about their punishment because the four other clubs found guilty of match-fixing - AC Milan, Fiorentina, Lazio and Reggina - were all allowed to retain their status in the top flight.

"The sanctions imposed on Juventus are disproportionate," the club said in a statement.

"It's incomprehensible that Juventus should be treated with the most severity."

Juventus said consideration should be given to the contribution the club has made to Italy's rich football history.

"The exclusion of Juve from the top division has gravely damaged the identity of a club which has in the past century helped write the history of Italian football.

"A club with an excellent tradition, always alive and real, a spirit shown by the nine Juventus players in the teams that played in the World Cup final."

AFP

 

[ReBeL]

Reggina appeal against match fixing penalty


ROME (AFP) - Serie A outfit Reggina appealed against the 15 point penalty inflicted on them because of their role in the Italian match-fixing scandal.

They have also appealed against the punishment imposed on their president Lillo Foti, who was suspended from footballing activity for two years and six months, as well as being fined 30,000 euros.

Their appeal will be heard by the Federal Court of the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) on August 25 according to the club's lawyer Giuseppe Panuccio.

Panuccio said he was confident that the club would have its penalty reduced to zero points.

56-year-old Foti, three referees, two assistant referees and another official had been targeted by prosecutors who accused them of trying to predetermine the result of six matches last season.

Italian Football Federation prosecutor Stefano Palazzi had asked the sporting tribunal to hand the club a points penalty for the season ahead, but also wanted them relegated to the Second Division.

AFP

 

[ReBeL]

Italy court rejects appeal by former Juventus officials



ROME, Aug 22 (Reuters) - An Italian court on Tuesday rejected an appeal by two former top officials of Juventus who were found guilty of sporting fraud by a soccer tribunal which relegated the club to the second division.

Legal sources said the Lazio regional court had decided not to hear appeals by former Juve general manager Luciano Moggi or ex-chief executive Antonio Giraudo against their bans and fines in the case.

Both Moggi and Giraudo hoped to challenge their sports tribunal conviction in the civil court.

The soccer tribunal found them guilty of influencing the appointment of referees on behalf of the club, who won the Italian championship in the last two years.

Reuters

 

[ReBeL]

Tar Lazio has not yet released the motivations that led to today’s rejection, but it may be because the duo’s position is still pending within sporting jurisdiction.

The CONI Conciliation Court has yet to express their opinion on the petition filed by the pair seeing as their hearings are scheduled for September 5 and 7.

Channel 4

 

[ReBeL]

Inter e Roma contro Sky: a noi il bonus delle prime
Moratti e Sensi reclamano i 5 milioni riservati a chi è arrivato primo e secondo.


A proposito, ma chi ha vinto l'ultimo campionato? E chi è che è arrivato al secondo posto? Se c'è qualcuno che pensi come queste siano solo domande da bar, un prologo ai classici «sfottò» tra tifosi avvelenati — o esaltati — da Moggiopoli, è destinato a rimanere assai sorpreso. Si tratta di roba assai più seria. Ci sono in ballo milioni di euro. Precisamente cinque. E l'argomento sta irrobustendo il neonato asse tra Inter e Roma, «carissime» rivali tra sei giorni nella finale di Supercoppa Italiana ma pronte a dividersi (in comproprietà) il cileno Pizarro a momentaneo beneficio della squadra di Spalletti.

I fatti. Sky, colosso mondiale della tv satellitare, nelle clausole stipulate con le grandi società del calcio italiano — delle quali detiene i diritti tv — ha inserito anche un «bonus» legato all'arrivo ai primi due posti del campionato. Cinque milioni, appunto. Il 14 maggio la situazione sembrava chiara: Juve prima, Milan secondo. Bastava passare, al solito, alla cassa. Ma quando le sentenze sullo scandalo del calcio hanno riscritto la graduatoria finale della serie A, si è scoperto che a vincere loscudetto è stata l'Inter ed a classificarsi al secondo posto la Roma. Logico, perciò, che ora siano queste due società a reclamare il premio previsto dal contratto. Insomma, paradossalmente si è creato un nuovo fronte di convenienti alleanze tra nerazzurri e giallorossi, che si oppongono agli ex sorelle siamesi bianco-rossonere.

Gazzetta dello Sport

------------------------------------------------------

Briefly: Inter and Roma are asking for the bonus amount which is paid by SKY to the clubs which get the first and the second positions in the league....

Sky had already given that amount to both Juve and Milan before the whole case of relegation...

 

[ReBeL]

Moggi's lawyer, Paolo Trofino, was quoted by ANSA news agency as saying he would turn to a higher Italian appeals court and even to the European Court of Justice.

However, Trofino said the Lazio regional court had not ruled on the merits of the case and could decide later to hear an appeal by Moggi, at the heart of the match-fixing scandal that erupted in May with the publication of tapped phone calls.

Reuters

 

[ReBeL]

Juventus threatened with more sanctions


ROME (Reuters) - The Italian football federation wrote to FIFA on Wednesday saying it would impose extra sanctions on Juventus if the club turn to a civil court to try to overturn their relegation after a match-fixing scandal.

The letter, confirmed by the Italian federation (FIGC), said FIGC would not "hesitate to launch the sanction process" if Juve lodge an appeal with the regional Lazio court, as they have said they will.

FIGC said Juve have not yet lodged their appeal with the court.

The FIGC said that under its statute member clubs accept to abide by sports authorities' rules, forsaking their right to turn to civil courts which are outside the sports justice system.

It said it had received a letter from FIFA on Tuesday, reiterating that clubs appealing to civil courts should be punished for that.

Juve said on Monday they would appeal to the Lazio court after they failed to persuade the FIGC to overturn the relegation verdict last week.

Reuters

 

[ReBeL]

FIFA WARN FIGC OVER JUVENTUS


FIFA have threatened the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) with heavy sanctions, should they not step in to block Juventus' appeal against their punishment in the match-fixing trial.

Italian clubs could be banned from playing in international competitions and the national team pulled out of the qualification campaign for Euro 2008 if the FIGC do not take any action.

Taking a matter to a civil court is against FIFA's rules and could lead to the Federation being suspended.

That in turn could lead to the exclusion of Italian clubs and the national team from international competitions.

Article 61-2 FIFA's statutes claims that 'Recourse to ordinary courts of law is prohibited unless specifically provided for in the FIFA regulations'.

Article 61-3 continues: 'To ensure the foregoing, the Associations shall insert a clause in their statutes stipulating that their clubs and members are prohibited from taking a dispute to ordinary courts of law and are required to submit any disagreement to the jurisdiction of the Association, the appropriate Confederation or FIFA.'

The FIGC, as reported on their website, have already sent a letter to FIFA explaining their objections to Juve's decision to appeal to the TAR and possible further sanctions against the Turin-based club.

http://www.sportinglife.com/footbal...feed/06/08/23/SOCCER_Ita-Juventus_Appeal.html

 

[ReBeL]

A FIGC official said the federation could deduct three more points if Juve go ahead with the appeal, leaving them at minus 20. Juventus officials were not immediately available for comment.

FIFA spokesman Andreas Herren said on Wednesday FIFA was satisfied with the Italian federation's promise to take action if the appeal is lodged.

"We have taken note of this and there are no grounds for us to intervene at the moment," he said.

Reuters